Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: June 2026

The following information is from data collected between 3 to 28 June 2026, based on adults in Great Britain. 

• The cost of living (88%), the NHS (78%), and the economy (70%) were the most commonly reported issues facing the UK today.

• More than 1 in 3 adults (36%) agreed or strongly agreed that artificial intelligence (AI) will benefit them, while 37% neither agreed nor disagreed and 27% disagreed or strongly disagreed.

• Younger adults aged 16 to 29 years (47%) and 30 to 49 years (45%), and men (41%) were more likely to agree or strongly agree that AI will benefit them.

• Nearly 4 in 10 adults thought AI brings more risks than benefits (38%), while 13% thought it has more benefits than risks, 43% thought there are equal benefits and risks, and 5% said they did not know.

• When asked about the positive impacts AI could have on their life, the most commonly reported ways were improving their access to learning or education (29%), making their job easier (25%), and making their household tasks easier (21%); around 4 in 10 adults (41%) said they did not think AI could have a positive impact on their lives.

• Reported negative impacts of AI included making it difficult to tell whether news or information is fake (81%), the use of personal data without consent (77%), and increased chances of experiencing cybercrime (63%).

In the latest period (3 to 28 June 2026), the most frequently reported issues facing the UK today continued to be:

• the cost of living (88%)

• the NHS (78%)

• the economy (70%)

The cost of living and the NHS have remained the two most frequently reported important issues facing the UK since October 2022. The cost of living (88%) has generally remained stable in recent years (86% in June 2025 and 87% in June 2024). However, the proportion of adults reporting the NHS as an important issue (78%) has seen a decrease over this time (84% in June 2025 and 87% in June 2024).

Other commonly reported issues this month included crime (61%), immigration (59%), employment (54%), climate change and the environment (53%), and housing (52%).

The proportion of adults reporting employment as an important issue (54%) has increased in recent years (41% in June 2025 and 31% in June 2024); this is now around the highest it has been since we started asking this question in October 2022.

Figure 1: The cost of living, the NHS, and the economy have been the most commonly reported important issues facing the UK since October 2022

Proportion of adults reporting each important issue, Great Britain, October 2022 to June 2026

Notes:

1. Respondents could select more than one option.
2. The length of each data collection period presented in this time series may be different. 
3. See our accompanying datasets for confidence intervals, additional response options and related footnotes.

This month, we asked adults about their perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI). The following definition of AI was presented to survey respondents once, before answering the survey questions.

"AI is a technology that can learn how to perform tasks by processing large amounts of data such as text and images. AI can perform tasks usually done by humans, either independently or in cooperation with them. AI is currently used in a variety of ways, including:

• virtual assistants (for example, Alexa and Siri)

• personalised recommendations for products, music and TV shows online

• chatbots that can answer complex questions (for example, ChatGPT)

• facial recognition software that can unlock a mobile phone or identify visitors

• self-driving vehicles

• medical diagnostic tools"

The definition provided to respondents has changed slightly over time, see Section 5: Glossary for more detail.

Perceptions of the benefits of artificial intelligence

Respondents were asked the extent to which they agree or disagree that AI will benefit them, and:

• 36% agreed or strongly agreed

• 37% neither agreed nor disagreed

• 27% disagreed or strongly disagreed

The proportion of adults selecting "disagree" or "strongly disagree" (27%) has increased from 20% in August 2025 when we last asked this question; this is now at its highest level since we first asked this question in November 2023 (14%). The proportion of adults selecting "agree" or "strongly agree" has generally remained the same over this time (38% in November 2023, compared with 36% in June 2026). The proportion of adults selecting "neither agree nor disagree" has decreased from 47% in November 2023 to 37% in June 2026.

Younger adults (those aged 16 to 29 years and 30 to 49 years) were more likely to agree or strongly agree that AI will benefit them, compared with older adults (those aged 50 to 69 years and 70 years and over). This is broken down as:

• 47% of those aged 16 to 29 years

• 45% of those aged 30 to 49 years

• 28% of those aged 50 to 69 years

• 16% of those aged 70 years and over

Men (41%) were also more likely than women (31%) to agree or strongly agree that AI will benefit them.

Risks and benefits of artificial intelligence

We also asked respondents to consider the benefits and risks of AI. Among all adults:

• 13% reported they think there are more benefits than risks

• 43% reported they think there are equal benefits and risks

• 38% reported they think there are more risks than benefits

• 5% reported they do not know if there are more benefits or risks

The proportion of adults reporting that they think AI has more risks than benefits (38%) has increased from 25% in August 2024 when we last asked this question; it had previously remained stable since November 2023 (26%). Meanwhile, the proportion of adults reporting "don't know" (5%) has decreased over the same period (12% in November 2023 and 10% in August 2024).

There were no differences between age groups in the proportion of adults reporting that AI had more risks than benefits. However, women (42%) were more likely to report that AI had more risks than benefits than men (34%).

Areas of life in which people had knowingly used artificial intelligence

The most commonly reported areas of life in which respondents had used AI, if any, in the past 12 months were:

• work or education (41%)

• home (27%)

• hobbies or interests (23%)

Around 6 in 10 adults aged 16 to 29 years (63%) and 30 to 49 years (60%) reported that they had used AI for work or education; this is compared with 27% of adults aged 50 to 69 years and 3% of adults aged 70 years and over. This question was asked of all survey respondents, regardless of their employment status.

Around 1 in 3 adults (33%) reported that they had not knowingly used AI in the past 12 months. Older adults were more likely than younger adults to say that they had not knowingly used AI in the past 12 months. This is broken down as:

• 20% of those aged 16 to 29 years

• 18% of those aged 30 to 49 years

• 39% of those aged 50 to 69 years

• 66% of those aged 70 years and over

Trusting artificial intelligence to carry out tasks

When asked which tasks they would trust AI to carry out, if any, around 1 in 3 adults (32%) reported that they would not trust AI to carry out any tasks.

The most commonly reported tasks that adults would trust AI to carry out were:

• customer service and support (27%)

• scientific research (25%)

• creative tasks (24%)

The least commonly reported tasks that adults would trust AI to carry out were:

• decision-making in government (4%)

• caregiving (5%)

• decision-making in business (7%)

There were some differences between age groups in the tasks adults would trust AI to carry out. For example, adults aged 70 years and over were less likely than adults in all other age groups to trust the use of AI in customer service and support. This is broken down as:

• 33% of adults aged 16 to 29 years

• 33% of adults aged 30 to 49 years

• 25% of adults aged 50 to 69 years

• 14% of adults aged 70 years and over

However, adults aged 70 years and over were more likely than adults in all other age groups to trust AI for medical diagnoses and treatment decisions. This is broken down as:

• 13% of adults aged 16 to 29 years

• 17% of adults aged 30 to 49 years

• 21% of adults aged 50 to 69 years

• 29% of adults aged 70 years and over

Positive impacts of artificial intelligence

The most reported ways respondents thought AI could positively impact their lives were:

• increasing their access to learning or education (29%)

• making their job easier (25%)

• making household tasks easier (21%)

• improving their access to healthcare (20%)

Over 4 in 10 adults (41%) did not think AI could have a positive impact on their life. Adults aged 50 to 69 years (48%) and 70 years and over (63%) were more likely to select this option.

Adults aged 16 to 29 years (41%) and 30 to 49 years (36%) were more likely to report that they thought AI could increase their access to learning or education; this is compared with adults aged 50 to 69 years (21%) and 70 years and over (11%).

The proportion of adults reporting they thought that AI could improve their access to healthcare generally increased with age, from 15% of those aged 16 to 29 years to 26% of those aged 70 years and over.

Men were more likely than women to report that AI could:

• improve their job prospects (11% of men, compared with 7% of women)

• increase their income (10%, compared with 4%)

• improve their personal safety (11%, compared with 7%)

Negative impacts of artificial intelligence

The most reported ways respondents thought AI could negatively impact their lives were:

• making it difficult to tell whether news or information is fake (81%)

• using their personal data without consent (77%)

• increasing their chances of experiencing cybercrime (63%)

Fewer than 1 in 10 adults (7%) did not think AI could have a negative impact on their life. Adults aged 70 years and over were more likely to select this option compared with all other age groups. This is broken down as:

• 5% of those aged 16 to 29 years

• 5% of those aged 30 to 49 years

• 7% of those aged 50 to 69 years

• 14% of those aged 70 years and over

Almost half of adults aged 16 to 29 years (47%) and adults aged 30 to 49 years (49%) reported that they thought AI could put their job at risk, compared with 24% of adults aged 50 to 69 years and 4% of adults aged 70 years and over. This question was asked of all survey respondents, regardless of their employment status.

Around 1 in 3 adults aged 16 to 29 years (31%) and adults aged 30 to 49 years (35%) reported that they thought AI could reduce their income, compared with 20% of adults aged 50 to 69 years and 6% of adults aged 70 years and over.

Men were equally as likely as women to report concern about all of the negative impacts of AI.

Additional demographic breakdowns of public attitudes towards AI are available in our AI by personal characteristics dataset, which is based on pooled responses collected between 6 May and 28 June 2026. These breakdowns provide further insight into perceptions of AI across demographic groups.

View all data used in this statistical bulletin on the Related data page.

Artificial intelligence

Survey respondents were presented with a definition of artificial intelligence (AI) once, before answering the survey questions. The definition provided to respondents has changed slightly over time, as outlined in the following subsections.

6 August 2025 onwards

"AI is a technology that can learn how to perform tasks by processing large amounts of data such as text and images. AI can perform tasks usually done by humans, either independently or in cooperation with them. AI is currently used in a variety of ways, including:

• virtual assistants (for example, Alexa and Siri)

• personalised recommendations for products, music and TV shows online

• chatbots that can answer complex questions (for example, ChatGPT)

• facial recognition software that can unlock a mobile phone or identify visitors

• self-driving vehicles

• medical diagnostic tools"

6 November to 1 December 2024

"AI are computer programs or machines that can learn from data and perform tasks usually done by humans. AI is currently used in a variety of ways, including:

• virtual assistants (for example Alexa and Siri)

• personalised recommendations for products, music and TV shows online

• chatbots that can answer complex questions (for example ChatGPT)

• facial recognition software that can unlock a mobile phone or identify visitors

• self-driving vehicles

• medical diagnostic tools"

27 March to 1 September 2024

"AI are computer programs or machines that can learn from data and perform tasks usually done by humans. AI is currently used in a variety of ways, including:

• virtual assistants (for example Alexa and Siri)

• personalised recommendations for products, music and TV shows online

• chatbots that can answer complex questions (for example ChatGPT)

• facial recognition software that can unlock a mobile phone or identify visitors 

• medical diagnostic tools"

1 November 2023 to 10 March 2024

"AI are computer programs or machines that can learn from data and perform tasks usually done by humans. AI is currently used in a variety of ways, including:

• virtual assistants (for example Alexa and Siri)

• personalised recommendations for products, music and TV shows online

• chatbots that can answer complex questions (for example ChatGPT and Google Bard)

• facial recognition software that can unlock a mobile phone or identify visitors 

• medical diagnostic tools"

Sample

The analysis in this bulletin is based on adults aged 16 years and over in Great Britain.

In the latest period, 3 to 28 June 2026, we sampled 8,710 households. This sample was randomly selected from people who had previously completed the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) or Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). There were 3,510 individuals in the responding sample for the latest period, representing a 40% response rate.

Data quality

Survey weights were applied to make estimates representative of the population, based on our population estimates. Estimates for some groups of the population may be subject to greater uncertainty because of smaller sample sizes for these groups (for example, younger adults).

From the 1 to 26 April 2026 data collection period onwards, the population totals used in weighting OPN estimates are based on 2024 mid-year estimates using updated population projections. They are initially projected forward using scaling factors derived from 2022-based subnational population projections by local authority, age, and sex, and subsequently constrained to 2022-based national population projection totals. Further, these estimates are adjusted to cover only the population living in households and student halls of residence.

We provide confidence intervals for all estimates in the datasets. Where comparisons between estimates are made, associated confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the differences.

Further information on the survey design and quality is available in our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey quality and methodology information (QMI).